


Worth & Reward

by rivlee



Series: Gone Are All The Days: D.C.-Metro Tales [19]
Category: Spartacus Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-07
Updated: 2014-03-07
Packaged: 2018-01-14 22:51:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1281715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rivlee/pseuds/rivlee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Agron's life goals have changed over the past few years. His life is more than just aiming to be a full bird colonel. He's looking pretty forward to putting down roots.  <i>An Agron pov to Heaven in Hard Times</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth & Reward

**Author's Note:**

> Flipside to [Heaven in Hard Times](http://archiveofourown.org/works/512182).

Life wasn’t great lately. At times it wasn’t even good, but at least it was largely devoid of war zones for the past five months. There were things he was willing to compromise in his life, but Agron Metzger had started to realize that he’d finally found one thing he was no longer willing to sacrifice for the sake of his career. He didn’t like it when his life was complicated by bullshit that shouldn’t even bother it in a perfect world. He didn’t like feeling like his future was on hold because of fucking asinine military policies and a bi-coastal relationship. He couldn’t keep living like this, not when where he was and what he wanted differed so greatly, so he decided to do something. 

It was time for a decisive course of action. 

Five years ago, Agron was content with a long future as a SEAL. He looked forward to rising in the ranks, maybe even leading his own strike force team one day, before reaching colonel. Then the IED happened. He was really fucking lucky he didn’t lose his life or any limbs. All he got out of the ordeal was some blood loss, a truly impressive scar, and some shrapnel still embedded right above his heart. Hell, his team medic, Doc Stern, was out of commission longer with his broken leg than Agron was for a bomb blast. At the time he wasn’t really thinking about the Navy Corpsman who muttered about Agron’s need to live so his SEAL team wouldn’t sacrifice a corpsman to the maritime gods for some good luck and hope. Agron couldn’t see much back then because of the shock, agonizing pain, and blood loss. He did fixate on those kinds eyes though, and the hint of dark hair hidden under the Kevlar helmet. They were as comforting as the steady hands that clearly knew how to work fast and get results. Before then Agron trusted corpsmen more than he did most legitimate doctors; give him the instinctual results of triage training to stay alive over debates of proper action while a body bled out any day. After the incident, his faith was even more cemented. He _knew_ the corpsman’s actions saved his life that day, even without Donar’s opinion and testimony to back him up. The evidence spoke for itself. 

Agron never expected to see the corpsman again. He told himself he was okay with that—really—even when he woke up from memories-disguised-as-nightmares and remembered those warm eyes, steady hands, and soothing voice as a focal point of calm. The whole experience changed Agron in the end. How could it not? It didn’t make him scared to do his duty—no more than the way any of them were scared whenever they got deployed—but it made him realize a military career wasn’t his goal. 

Agron wanted more; his family didn’t seem surprised when he confessed as much. It did take a long time for that idea to be… _okay_ for Agron. He always planned to follow in his father’s footsteps. Now it seemed like he’d take after his mother instead; still working with the government but in a whole different—sometimes more dangerous—capacity. 

What happened a year after IED just confirmed the new course of his future. When he got thrown into sick bay on an aircraft carrier with untreated burns to his legs and the possible initial sings of gangrene, it turned out to be a completely different form of miracle. Donar called it the start of Agron’s own personal harlequin romance, but either way it had to be fate. Out of all the sick bays in all the aircraft carriers in all the world, _that_ corpsman walked into his and Agron wasn’t about to let a missed opportunity pass again. 

He readily admitted now that back then the kiss was far too much and an asshole move, even if it was motivated by a fucked-up type of joy. He was just so fucking relived and happy—and admittedly a _little_ drugged— to see him again. The corpsman was the one who got away, and after an IED and its recovery, and the small incident with the fire and his leg, Agron finally had a last name thanks to uniform regs.

How hard could it be to find information on a _Karimi_ in the Navy? It turned out pretty damn hard, but there were benefits to having the Secretary of the Navy as a godfather. Using the argument of, _I just want to thank the guy who was competent enough to save my ass twice_ was the only thing he needed.

Agron knew then it was a high-stakes mission. It was a really stupid fucking thing to even contemplate getting involved with another guy in the military without 100% proof it wouldn’t end in sexual harassment charges and a dishonorable discharge. Agron usually had more fucking sense about these things. He’d never lied to his family, or his closest friends, but his career required that he kept a major part of himself completely hidden and separate. He _knew_ he had to have better sense, as a SEAL, as an officer, as a leader of his team, but he learned early on that Nasir made Agron reckless in wholly different ways than he ever knew before.

It took months of building a casual friendship through exchanged e-mails and phone calls until Nasir accidently let slip he’d had relationships in the past with other men. It was all the chance Agron needed. It took another round of months and wheedling to get Nasir to agree to a date. It been mostly golden from there on out, minus the typical road bumps that occurred in every relationship. 

Of course they also had a few unique stressors in trying to navigate life together. There were dark times hovering over all the good they had. They had to live in fear and worry of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Even Agron, for all his family connections, knew that if the wrong person got a whiff of it, his career and reputation, along with Nasir’s, were done. It didn’t matter to most people, but there were always those few powerful assholes. Agron was tired of every fucking action having to be curtailed in public. He was fucking exhausted of not being able to touch Nasir longer than deemed appropriate between close friends, of not being able to kiss his partner goodbye when they had to leave for a tour, or tackle him with hugs and tears when they survived the return. 

When he was a young asshole first starting off in his career at Annapolis, he never would’ve imagined any of this. His goals were different now, and he wasn’t bitter at all about the change. He looked forward to being with his family for all the holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. He was nervous about civilian life, sure. He’d never really be one, all things considered, and even now he was still going to be working for the Department of Defense. It was terrifying, but was worth it for the reward of whole years full of all those little things and devoid of the constant mindset required to be an active Navy SEAL team leader.

“Lieutenant Metzger?”

Agron shook himself from his thoughts and turned his attention to the receptionist. 

“Colonel Ulpius will see you now.”

*********************

Agron had kept his phone turned off during his meeting with the Colonel, not wanting any distractions while he secured his transfer for the final months of his contract. He’d be moving on to Little Creek as an instructor to ride out his last months until retirement. Colonel Ulpius didn’t even try to convince Agron to stay, or try to ask why he needed to leave. The man had given him a solid pat on the back and wished him well. Agron waited until he’d cleared the offices before allowing himself to lean against the wall and take a moment to breathe. 

He was halfway to his car when his phone started blaring _With a Little Help From my Friends_.

“Donar,” he answered. “Don’t tell me you ran out of toilet paper again while dropping a deuce, bro. I’m at least thirty minutes out without including a stop to buy the four-ply you require to wipe your ass.”

“You need to get home,” Donar said in his mission voice. It meant no bullshit. “It’s Nasir. You need to get home right the fuck now.”

Agron steadied himself against a cement planter as the absolutely worst came to mind. Last he heard Nasir was stateside, but shit happened. “Donar?” he croaked out. “Is he?” He couldn’t bring himself to ask more.

“He’s here,” Donar quickly assured him. “I have him here, but he’s freaked out over something. I don’t know if someone found out. I don’t know what the hell’s going on. Just get home.”

“I’m on my way,” Agron said as he started to dash for his car. “Tell him I’ll be there. Fuck. Call Dagan, maybe?”

“I’ll call Mira first,” Donar said. “See if I can calm him down; see if he needs to get JAG involved.” He took a deep breath. “We’ll fix this, bro. Whatever it is, we’ll get it done.”

Agron didn’t know what gods smiled upon him that day, but he didn’t get pulled over for speeding on the way home. He barely remembered to put the car in park before jumping out when he got to the apartment. There was a rental out front, which meant Nasir at least had the presence of mind to suffer a car rental counter at the airport. Hell, knowing Nasir he probably made a reservation _before_ he boarded, but Nasir tended to plan when he was stressed out so even that knowledge didn’t calm Agron down.

He dropped his keys three times on the way up the walk before finally getting the door open. Donar and Nasir were both on the couch, with Nasir white-kunckling a phone. Agron didn’t really think; he just sort of launched himself at them. 

After the past half-hour of gut churning panic he almost busted out laughing as Nasir explained why he was there. He actually couldn’t believe what he was hearing at first; Nasir’s jumbled babbling about breaking it off for two years so they could both live life without the constant fear of being discovered. Agron’s knees almost gave out in relief when he realized Nasir, and his family, were safe. The matter at hand? That was nothing. It was laughable, if not typical for Nasir Karimi. Stupid, big hearted, completely self-less even when it was misdirected Nasir was doing what he thought was right for _Agron_ no matter how much it had to hurt him to even offer such a sacrifice.

“You don’t get rid of us that easily,” Agron murmured into his hair. They’d both calmed down, but Agron knew the small tremors running through his body matched Nasir’s own. 

“If you get snot in my hair,” Nasir warned.

Agron nuzzled the top of Nasir’s head before placing another kiss there. He breathed in Nasir’s scent and tightened his arms around him. “You’ll live,” he said. 

“Not if you keep trying to suffocate him with your chest,” Donar called from the hallway.

Agron mouthed a _thank you_ at him as Nasir started to shake with laughter instead of tears. 

“Anytime,” Donar said. He still had the phone pressed to his ear and laughed at whatever Mira said on the other end. “Mira does request that neither one of you do this to us again. She refuses to watch over any of us if we stroke out.”

“Duro would just take care of us,” Nasir said. “He probably already has a retirement home for us picked it. I bet you it’s named _Sleepy Corners_ or _Calm Acres_ or something like that.”

Agron laughed and felt the tightness in his chest ease just a little bit. “Christ, don’t give him any ideas.”

Nasir clutched Agron’s shoulders before straightening himself up. “No promises.” He fussed at Agron’s shirt collar. “I’ve messed up your uniform.”

“I don’t think Donar’s going to report me for violating uniform regs,” Agron said. He laid his hands over Nasir’s own. “Besides, then he’d be on the hook for half the rent.”

“I can hear you,” Donar said. “Mira thinks the uniform could use another run through the dry cleaners anyway. Also fuck you; you’re leaving me for Little Creek anyway.”

Agron only had eyes for the small, relieved smile that graced Nasir’s face at Donar’s words. Nasir rolled his eyes at whatever look he saw on Agron’s face. 

“You know he’s going to take you with him, Donar,” Nasir said. 

Donar sniffed. “Well, I certainly fucking hoped so, or else I would’ve looked like an ass sending my transfer paperwork in for nothing.” There was a loud squawk from the phone and Donar grimaced before disappearing back through the hallway and into his bedroom.

“So, Mira didn’t know?” Nasir asked.

Agron shook his head. “I didn’t even know until now. Sadie will be happy to have her dad around a lot more often, now.”

“You’re both a bunch of jackasses,” Nasir muttered. 

****************

Nasir was asleep, so was Donar from the sound of his snoring, as Agron slipped out to the front porch and called Duro. He just needed a moment to panic after everything from today. The adrenaline and his body’s response to a threat had finally worn down, and now Agron was left with the aftershocks and the insomnia. He needed a wholly different kind of steady presence right now.

“Mira called; she said your day was eventful,” Duro said.

“He could’ve left me,” Agron said. His hands were shaking. “He would’ve too, if I wasn’t retiring. Even if I said I wouldn’t wait—because fuck that—he would’ve done it, for what? For the fucking military tradition of our family? For my career? I just…Duro, what am I supposed to say to those fears? How can he not know what I’ll give up for him?”

“He does,” Duro soothed. “He knows now. Agron, bro, that’s a lot of pressure though. You can’t put that on someone else. We all have got to live for ourselves and then work on living for—and with— each other. Nasir was going with the logical solution; he’s got that rational mind, you know. If two members of the military are in a relationship, one that’s expressly forbidden, either someone’s got to leave the relationship or the job. Do you think in this economy he ever thought you’d leave the job? He knows how much you’re devoted to that crazy-ass SEAL team of yours.”

“It shouldn’t be a question,” Agron insisted.

“Bullshit. No one is a mind reader.” Duro sighed. “Look, Agron, any relationship with military personnel is fucked up. You know that. You know relationships are judged both by civilian and military time in terms of years and that three calendar years equal _maybe_ one full years of a relationship outside of deployment if you’re lucky. It’s a reality of our world. I’m still amazed our ma and dad have worked it out as well as they have. It’s all about compromise and sacrifice in order to achieve that final objective. Nasir reacted to your situation tactically with the intel he had at hand. Of course it went FUBAR because he’s fucking a SEAL, but don’t make him feel like an ass or even let him have some residual fucking guilt because _you_ chose to retire and he was willing to put you two on pause. And for the love of god, make damn sure he knows that you don’t _resent_ him for your retirement.”

Agron’s head was starting to hurt. “Why would he think that?”

He could hear a thump in the background as if Duro had hit something. “You’re so fucking dumb sometimes. You have the emotional intelligence of a tick.”

“Remind me again which one of us is in a long-term relationship,” Agron said.

Duro yawned. “I still say Nasir took pity on you. You so don’t deserve him.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not going to disagree with that,” Agron agreed. “You think he’s happy though, right? In the bigger picture of it all.”

“Of course I am, you asshole.”

Agron’s relaxes were all that kept him from falling off the porch. He turned around to find Nasir standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest and hair plastered to his face. 

“Tell your brother goodnight and come back to bed.”

Duro cackled in Agron’s ear. “You just got told.”

“Goodnight, Duro,” Agron growled out before hanging up. He wrapped an arm around Nasir’s waist and walked them both back inside. “So, bed?” 

As they settled down again, flipping pillows and readjusting the covers, Nasir curled on top of Agron and gave him a tired smile. Agron ran his fingers over the furrow between Nasir’s brows until he made a content sound.

“I’m too exhausted to fuck you with any enthusiasm right now, but I’ll do it if it gets you to sleep,” he said. 

Agron laughed himself to sleep for the first time in his life. 

********************

Brunch had become one of their traditions after their first date. They’d had a pretty good success rate of not causing as many kitchen disasters as the first time, but today had seen the sad, final send-off of the George Foreman grill. They were debating on instant waffles or instant pancakes when Donar emerged in his service khaki.

“Off to see the wizard?” Agron asked. 

Donar gave him the finger in response. “Don’t have sex in the kitchen,” he said as he threw on his coat.

“What about at the table?” Agron asked as his eyes lingered on Nasir in the warm morning sunlight.

Donar shrugged. “As long as you clean up after yourselves. I’m not going to act like Mira and I have been perfect angels at that table.”

Nasir pushed his chair out and stood up. “I love you both, but no.”

“I wouldn’t go near the counters either then,” Donar said.

“It’s not like they haven’t been cleaned since then,” Agron said.

Nasir nodded. “But I can only see Donar’s assprint on everything now and it’s turning my stomach.”

Donar sputtered. “Fuck you. I have a firm ass that looks damn good in my uniform.”

Nasir tilted his head and gave Donar an obvious once-over. “Eh, I’ve seen better.”

“Well I don’t expect you to give my obviously superior ass points in front of your man,” Donar said. 

“Who ever said I thought Agron had the better ass,” Nasir called before he disappeared into the bedroom.

Donar slapped the back of Agron’s head as he walked past. “Agron, you better marry that man.

Agron sipped his coffee and grinned. “One step closer, bro. One step closer.”


End file.
